New York
by gafann
Summary: Meredith left Seattle for New york with Christina after her life fell apart at home. What happens when Derek's sister ends up in Meredith's care? Mer/Der.
1. News

Meredith and Christina walked into the locker room and straight to their individual cubbies. They were running a little behind this morning, but they still were in no rush. She was reminded every morning that New York was their fresh start. After Burke and Derek had managed to flip their lives upside down, they made a run for it, together.

"I'll see you at lunch?" Meredith turned to ask before she left the locker room to start her day.

Christina threw her scrub shirt over her head, "See you at lunch."

"Morning, Dr. Grey," the familiar voice of the nurse behind the small island desk greeted her.

"Morning," she smiled. "Have anything good for me?"

"Of course," she gave her a handful of files.

"Thanks," she said, while flipping though them, seeing what her day would consist of. She felt a hand snake around her waist before a soft kiss landed on her cheek. She giggled.

"Good morning, beautiful," he whispered.

"Hello, Trevor," she turned around and gave him a quick kiss. She knew, from past experiences, that relationships with co-workers wasn't a very good idea, but she had gotten into yet another work relationship since her last heated love back at home. This time, the two dating doctors were on the same level. They were both first year attendings, specializing in different fields. Meredith had taken up neuro, while Trevor was dedicated to plastics.

"Are our plans for tonight still on?"

Meredith looked down to her beeping pager, "As long as I can get out of here in time. I have to take this. I'll talk to you later," he kissed her quickly before she ran off towards the ER.

"Love you, babe," he said after her. Meredith could only turn around and smile. He had been saying that a lot lately, and she wasn't really sure she was ready for that.

"What do we have?" she said, scanning the patient's chart, waiting for one of the new inters to give her a detailed over-view of the girl in front of her.

"Female, 32, collapsed in a restaurant about 30 minutes ago. She seems to be very confused and she hit her head pretty hard."

"Name?"

"Nancy Sheppard."

Meredith's heart stopped dead in its tracks for a brief second. Nancy Sheppard. The same Nancy Sheppard whose brother resided in Seattle, Washington. The brother with gorgeous blue eyes, and dark black curly hair that made her melt. The man that she had flown across the country to avoid.

She couldn't lose her. She couldn't be responsible for Derek's sister dying. "Ger her to CT," Meredith insisted. They did as they were told, and quickly at that.

Meredith made a few quick stops to check on her recovering patients while she waited for her newest patient's CT results. She could feel her stomach doing flips the entire time. _Beep. Beep. Beep._ Results were in.

She quickly walked to Nancy's room, where anxious interns greeted her. "The CT shows a small bleed on the left side, right there," one of them pointed out on the film before them.

_Damnit_, was all Meredith could think. "Book an OR."

"We called her family. They're on their way here. Would you like us to page you when they get here?"

_Family. Derek. _"Yes, let me know when they're here," was the right thing for her to say. Inside she was screaming. The last person she needed to see was the one person she came to New York to forget about.

She walked out of the room and walked straight into the nearest supply closet. She sat down on an empty crate on the floor, put her head in her hands, and let the tears fall. She sat there and cried for a good 5 minutes, then she decided that was enough for now. She wiped off her face, and went off to find Christina. It was about lunchtime, and that would give her just enough time to tell her best friend about everything, before she had to operate on her ex-boyfriend's sister, who never liked her to begin with.

After explaining everything Meredith had to say, Christina could only look at her, mouth wide open in shock. "So?" Meredith coaxed. She needed advice.

"You're about to operate on McDreamy's sister?"

"Yes."

"Is he coming here?"

"I'm not sure. They called her family. Her mom and her other siblings live out here somewhere. I know that. I don't know if Derek plans on flying all the way out here."

"Does he know we're here?"

"No."

Christina scoffed, "Good luck, Mer."

Meredith rolled her eyes. Both of their pagers went off at the same time. "Cardio crisis," Christina muttered.

"Nancy's family is here," Meredith added. They both looked at each other, and then headed in opposite directions. It was going to be a long day.


	2. Love, Never Ending

As she headed towards the room, she could feel butterflies flying throughout her stomach. She was going to have to do this sooner or later, so she was going to do it fast. Like ripping of a Band-Aid.

Meredith walked into the room and saw Derek's mother and one of his sisters sitting in the chairs closest to Nancy's bedside. "Meredith?" his mother asked.

"Hi, Mrs. Shepherd."

"It's Carolyn, honey. Are you Nancy's doctor?"

"I am," Meredith slid the CT films out of their envelope and put them up against the light for Carolyn to see. "If you see right here, she has a small Epidural hematoma right…here," she said pointing to the small dark circle in the picture.

"I see you took on Derek's specialty?" she smiled.

Meredith smiled back at her, "Yes, I did."

"So what does this mean for Nancy?"

"It means that her brain is bleeding. Now, sometimes these things can fix themselves, but it can also continue to bleed and in that case we would have about a day before she dies."

Carolyn nodded at the information she had been given. "We have some time to decide?"

Meredith nodded, "A day at the most."

"Ok," she went back to hold Nancy's hand, "I'm going to wait for Derek to get here. He can decide what to do."

Meredith swallowed hard. "Derek…Derek is coming…here?" She spat out. That had to have sounded bad.

"Yes, he only lives about an hour away, and he left when we all found out, so he should be here any minute," Carolyn looked up at Meredith's face. She could tell that Meredith didn't know any of this. "He moved back about a year ago. He wanted a fresh start and to be closer to his family."

_A year ago._ About the same time that she herself had decided to make New York her fresh start. "Alright…I…um…I'm going to go check on a few other patients. I'll be back a little later to see what you have decided to do."

"Thanks, hon." Meredith nodded and smiled. She obviously couldn't get words out of her mouth without sounding like a fool, so she decided she would just bow out gracefully.

As she turned the corner, headed for another supply closet melt down, when she ran into Trevor. He was the last person she wanted to see right now. He tried to slide his arm around her and it felt awkward. She pulled away and stepped to the side, "I can't talk right now," she wouldn't meet his gaze.

"What's wrong?" He knew something was up with her. He had never seen her act this way before.

"Nothing. I'm fine. I have to go." She walked around him and headed towards her original destination. She turned another corner and she was about a yard away from the security of the closet before the tears started fighting their way down her face. As soon as she sat down, she looked up through blurry eyes when she heard the door open again. She wiped her eyes with her jacket sleeve and tried to see who had followed her into her hiding place.

"I see you haven't changed at all," she heard his velvety voice joke. He let out a small laugh, and sat down next to her, pulling her into his chest. "Hello, Meredith," he said with a smile.

She let herself fall into him. "Hi, Derek." Suddenly, crying seemed so silly. The familiar comfort of his arms sent chills down her spine. She let him wipe the remaining tears from her face.

He sat her up, slightly, so he could see her face. "What's got you running to supply closets?"

"Nothing, long day," she lied. '_I miss you, and I love you. When I heard you were coming and that you lived less than an hour away from me, I couldn't breathe,_' sounded like too much.

"Ahh," he laughed. He pushed a piece of hair away from her face. Leaving his hand on her cheek, "You haven't changed at all."

He could see her pain through her eyes. He knew that it hurt her for him to be here. "You're still…You haven't seemed to changed either," she let out. Standing up, making sure she looked composed, she added, "And I have changed. I'm working on the being all whole and healed thing."

He laughed and stood in front of her, "How's that working for you?" He said, while leaning closer to her.

"It's…working…just fine," she stammered, as his face got closer to hers. She left his hand snake through her hair and pull her through that final gap of distance between them.

She had never met anyone who she fit so perfectly together with, in every sense of the phrase. No matter what they did, they seemed to be perfectly made for each other.

His mouth was hot on hers. She could feel for him longing searching for the feelings they shared that he had missed for so long, while pressing his hand across her lower back, pulling her closer, as if the small space between them was thousands of miles away. She moaned as his hands traveled to her hips.

This wasn't enough. They both needed more, and they knew neither was willing to pull away. Meredith's fingers found the edge of his shirt and pulled it from the waistband of his dress pants. Derek was a little shocked that she was moving so quickly, but he wasn't about to tell her to stop. She undid the buttons of his shirt and shrugged it off of him. Her lab coat was already on the floor and she lifted her shirt over her head, throwing it somewhere behind her.

Derek pulled her closer to him again, needing to feel her skin against his. Her hands frantically unhooked his belt and unzipped his pants. "Meredith," he gasped, as he felt her hand slip over his boxers, feeling for him. She smiled against his lips as they kissed. She slid his pants down, and instantly, he reached to take off hers as well. They had no time to waste.

"You're beautiful," he whispered against her ear, as he spread kisses from her jaw line, down her neck, to her collarbone. Goosebumps covered her whole body; his lips feeling like fire against her skin.

Derek pushed her back against the door, and pressed up against her. Meredith groaned, he was teasing. One of his hands went next to her head, against the door, and the other slid her up. She wrapped her legs around him, and braced herself against his shoulders.

"Ready?" he panted.

"Always," she breathed. She let her head fall back as she felt him move into her. She whimpered at first, getting used to his size, then before she knew it she was practically begging for more. She leaned her forehead against his as they moved slow, but deep.

His free hand rested on her hip, gripping it tightly. He was never going to let her go again. He hated his life without her. "God, Meredith, I missed you." She looked into his eyes, searching. She could tell he wasn't lying, and she had missed him too. "I love you."

The words sunk into her heart. She thought those words would make her feel guilty, or cause her to want to run, but they didn't. They did the exact opposite. "I love you too, Derek." It felt right to hear the words roll off her tongue.

He smiled and shifted her hips slightly. He knew how to hit all the right spots, because as soon as he moved her, she felt every tiny movement he made radiate throughout her entire body.

She shuddered as she felt how close she was, "Baby, just breathe," he reached down, "Take my hand," and she did. She gripped his hand harder as she let go, and he followed shortly after.

He let her down slowly, holding her up on her shaky legs. "You okay?" he asked with a smile, leaning down to give her swollen lips another kiss. He couldn't keep his hands off of her.

"I'm a lot more than alright," she giggled. He couldn't believe how much he had missed that soft, sweet sound. "That was amazing," she tried catching her breath, letting him hold her up as she leaned against his damp chest.

"Meredith, what does this mean?" There was a hint of concern in his voice.

"It means that I can't be around you for more than 2 minutes without losing control. Christina is going to kill me."

"I need more than that."

"Derek. This was so fast. I have your sister unconscious in my care, and all you want to know what the sex means?"

"Yes, right now, I want to know what the sex means."

"It means that obviously I'm incapable of moving on, and when I move across the country to get away from our past, it still finds a way to find me."

"Shouldn't that mean something to you?"

"It does, Derek. But now I have a guilty conscious. I should be sorting out my life, not having sex with you." She reached for her clothes, and Derek grabbed her arm, stopping her.

"Mer, I'm not going to let you go again. You don't get to run away this time."

Meredith's heart felt like it had jumped into her throat. She had no words for that. She took a deep breath, "Okay."

"Okay?"

"Okay."

"Okay," he agreed. Amazed that he might have actually talked some sense into her. They both started getting dressed again.

"Would you like to go see your sister now?" He nodded, adjusting his shirt. "Alright, follow me," she motioned for him to walk next to him.

They passed Christina in the hallway, and she gave Meredith a knowing gaze. Almost like she had seen everything. "Hello, Christina," Derek greeted his old intern.

"Hi, Dr. Shepherd."

He tried resting a hand on her side as they walked past. She pulled way, but not quick enough for her friend not to notice. "Not right now, okay?" He nodded at her request, feeling slightly disappointed. She turned in front of him right before they reached his sister's room, "Listen, Derek. You know how these things go. Be prepared, okay? There is a lot of swelling and she's still unresponsive."

"I'm expecting the worst," he mentioned. "I wouldn't be able to deal if I didn't."

She quickly picked up his hand, and squeezed it, showing him that she was here for him, even if she was being a little more distant than he would like. He smiled, "Thanks." She let go of his hand and followed him into the room.


	3. Calm Before The Storm

Derek immediately went to his mother's side. Carolyn was greatly shaken up by all of this, but she was glad that her son had come. "What do we do?"

"We can monitor her for the night, and see how her stats are in the morning."

"What if we don't have that much time?"

Derek looked over to the doorway where Meredith was standing, "We've been monitoring her," she said, "But things haven't been improving. The bleeding hasn't stopped."

"Then, at this rate, surgery is our best bet," Derek told his mother. "I'll do it."

"Derek…we both know that isn't an option," Meredith told him, and his mother agreed with her.

"I can't let someone else operate on my family," he insisted.

"Derek, you're too emotionally involved. Remember when I drowned? The chief had to kick you out of the room. There's no way you can do your sister's surgery yourself." Meredith reminded him. "You can be in the room if you want, but there's no way you can perform her surgery yourself."

"But…" Derek walked over and picked up Nancy's hand.

"Der, I'll be the one doing it, and I learned from the best. I learned from you."

Derek nodded his head. He knew it was for the best, but it killed him that he wasn't going to be the one doing the surgery. At least he would be in the room, which would help, just to hold her hand.

"I'll let you be alone," Meredith told them. "I have a few other patients to check on. I'll send someone in to prep her in a few minutes." She turned around and headed over towards the nurses' station for charts of patients she had to check on. She saw Trevor standing there, reviewing a few charts himself.

"Mer," she heard Derek calling behind her. She turned around to face him.

Trevor looked over to see her talking to a man he didn't know, like they were old friends. He saw the man reach for her hand.

She pulled her hand back, "Not here."

"Then, where? We need to talk about this."

"Derek, your sister is going in to surgery in a few minutes. Go be with her."

"I know…I just…I can't leave it like this." He had a look of concern on his face. Trevor couldn't make out what they were saying, but he could tell by the look on his face that it was serious. He decided that he was going to go check it out.

"You're not leaving anything. I'll still be here after her surgery." Trevor walked up behind Meredith.

Meredith looked over her shoulder, then turned back to Derek and closed her eyes. Derek could tell that whoever this was, it was not someone that she wanted to see them arguing. "Hi, babe," Trevor said. Derek looked at him, then back at Meredith. She looked him in the eye, and they spend a few seconds not breaking eye contact.

Derek extended his hand, "Derek Shepherd," he introduced himself, "And you are?"

"Trevor Thompson. I've heard of you before. You're a legend!" He was excited to meet such a figure in surgical history.

"Thanks," Derek smiled. He shifted his eyes back toward Meredith.

"Trevor, could you go check on Mrs. Robinson in room 214 for me?" She smiled at him. He could tell that she was trying to get rid of him. He had no idea what his girlfriend would need to privately talk to such a surgical legend about, but he wasn't about to get in the way.

"Sure," he smiled, "I'm off in an hour. Dinner tonight?"

"I'm not going to be getting out of here anytime soon. I have a big surgery in a few minutes. I'm sorry, it looks like I'm going to be here most of the night."

"Tomorrow then?"

"Tomorrow."

"Ok, I'll see you tomorrow." He leaned down and kissed her. Derek fought back the urge to hit him. They both watched him walk away.

"That would be why you have a guilty conscious." He stated.

"That would be why."

He looked at her, a million questions circling his head. "Are we going to talk about this?"

"After Nancy's surgery I'm free to talk," she promised him. Derek nodded, taking her hand back into his, not letting her pull away this time.

"I know that we…I messed things up before…but, Mer, I want this. I'll drop everything for you, but only if you ask me to." Meredith gave him a weak smile. He leaned closer and she rested her free hand on his chest. He kissed her, soft and quick, kind of like a habit. Like they would do it every day for the rest of their lives.


	4. The Story Left Untold

After four hours of surgery, Derek went to give his mom and sister the good news: Nancy had made it through surgery. She was alive, and stable.

He hugged his family, and led them into her recovery room. "She hasn't woken up yet, it might be a while," Derek informed them. He was amazed at how well Meredith had done on the surgery. She really had learned a lot from him. "We should take turns going home and sleeping. At least one of us should be here when she wakes up."

"You two can go, I'm going to stay the night here," Carolyn whispered, holding tightly to her daughter's hand.

"I'll come back in the morning so you can get some rest," he said, rubbing his mother's shoulder. His sister agreed to come in later the next night.

Derek's other sister left, but Derek waited around for Meredith. He heard her voice from around the corner, "I'm headed home. I need you to monitor her tonight," she must have been talking to one of her residents, "If there are any changes in her conditions, at all, I want you to page me."

She rounded the corner and almost ran into him, "Hey."

"Hey," he said back. Meredith shifted uncomfortably for a moment, so he started talking, "Want to go get something to eat?"

"I actually can't think of anything other than going home and showering right now, do you want to just come over and eat?"

"Yeah, that sounds good. Are you ready to go?"

"Yeah, we can go." They made their way to the parking lot. "I don't live very far, are you going to just follow me?"

"Well, if you have an early shift tomorrow, I can just drive. I'm coming back to stay with Nancy in the morning," he offered. "Plus, I could use a couch to crash on. I don't live that close."

"Alright," she started to relax a little. The ride home only took a few minutes, but it was comfortable and spent catching up small things in their lives that have changed over their time apart. Her apartment was only a short walk from the hospital on a nice day. As she opened the door she said, "I'm warning you: I live with Christina. Things could be messy."

He laughed, "I'll prepare myself." Surprisingly the house was pretty clean when they walked in.

They walked quietly to the kitchen, trying to avoid waking her sleeping roommate. Meredith reached into the refrigerator while Derek found a seat at the kitchen table, "I hope you like frozen pizza."

"I'm willing to eat anything that's not hospital food," he joked.

"Good," she threw the pizza in the oven and sat in the chair across from him. "So you wanted to talk," she reminded him.

He didn't know where to start. "I do," he hesitated.

"Alright. Give me a few minutes to go shower really fast, then we can talk." Derek nodded and watched her walk away.

**FLASHBACK**

_He was begging. He would do anything for her. Suddenly, his world had come to a complete halt. The thickness in the air along with the news was making it hard for air to reach his lungs. He felt short of breathe. "What?"_

"_I have to go, Derek." There were tears there, in her eyes. Her voice was shaking and slightly higher than normal. She wasn't yelling, she was falling apart._

"_You…you can't leave. Meredith! After everything, please, don't go. Don't do this," his voice was low. It came out softer than he wanted it to be._

_He watched as she rested one of her hands on his face. Nothing had ever been this hard for either one of them. She leaned forward, giving him a quick, but hard kiss. A kiss goodbye._

_Panic started rushing through his body, "Mer! Please! Where are you going? At least tell me where I can find you."_

"_Goodbye, Derek," she cried, picking up the rest of her belongings. "I love you."_

"_Mer!" he yelled. "Meredith!" he screamed, watching her walk away, knowing that there was a good chance he would never see her again…_

**END OF FLASHBACK**

She came back downstairs with wet hair, wearing the ratty, old Dartmouth t-shirt that he loved so much. As soon as she walked into the kitchen the over timer went off. "Perfect timing," he said with a smile to which she giggled softly. He got a sent of her flowery smell as she walked past him. He closed his eyes and inhaled it in, getting shivers from head to toe. He had missed small things like the smell of lavender and the soft laugh Meredith had.

Meredith grabbed a few plates and put two pieces on each. She set on in front of Derek and one at the seat across from him, as she ran back to find something to drink. "What would you like? We have…um…water, beer, vodka, and some expired milk."

It shocked him at how unhealthy she ate, "I'll take a beer." She grabbed two beers, than sat down to eat with him.

He didn't want to be too straight forward, but he didn't want to wait anymore, "I just…I need to know, Mer, is there any hope for us?"

Her heart sank in her chest. She honestly didn't know. "You know I left Seattle to get away from you," she admitted.

"I did the same, but apparently we both ran away to the same place," he smirked at her.

"I just worked so hard to build the life I have now, here, with Christina. It took a lot…" Food had sounded so great a few seconds ago, but now all she could do was stare at her plate.

Derek reached across the table, placing his hand on top of hers, "I'm not here to ruin anything. I'm willing to give myself to you, completely. I want to be here. I want to put everything I have into us because I feel like what we have we won't find anywhere else. I've felt this way since you left, Meredith, and just like that day, I would do anything to make you stay with me." He waited, trying to read her face, "Can you honestly say that you feel what we have with Trevor?"

Meredith looked up at him, not answering. "Exactly," he told her. "What he have is special. I think that this kind of love only comes around once. We can't throw this away, Mer."


	5. Breathe In, Breathe Out

Early the next morning, after the talking and the drinking, Meredith found herself waking up with an arm wrapped tightly around her waist. She hesitated for a second, but as soon as she realized that it was Derek grabbing onto her she snuggled up closer to his warmth. She knew that there was a chance this was going to end how it had before, but she was ready this time. She had never been ready before, but this time she was. She was ready. She was ready to give all of herself to him.

As she started to doze off again when she woke up to the sound of her pager going off on the nightstand next to Derek. He grunted, grabbed the pager, and handed it to her. She looked at it, unable to read it at first. She squinted her eyes to see that it was for Derek's sister, but not bad news. She had woken up.

"Derek," she rubbed his shoulder lightly to which he grunted again. "Der, wake up."

"It's early," he moaned. "So early."

"I know, but Nancy woke up," she sat up, "Do you want to go see your sister?"

He nodded his head and sat up next to her, taking her hand and pulling her closer to him so he could kiss her. Of course staying in bed and spending the morning together sounded great, but they needed to get up. "Enough," she giggled between kisses. He didn't say anything, just pressed her back down and pinned her between him and the mattress with a smile plastered to his face.

"We have a few minutes," he said kissing her neck, sending a shiver throughout her body. He ran his hand up her naked thigh.

"Derek," she whispered, her breath hitching as she felt his hand sneak between her legs. "We shouldn't."

"I think we should," he kissed her again. He knew how to make her melt. He could keep her in his arms forever if he wanted to.

He gently rubbed her, making her want more. He slipped a few fingers inside and she shifted her hips towards him. It didn't take long for her to come from his talented hands. As soon as she regained control of her body, her shaky hands found his chest and pushed him onto his back. "We shouldn't be doing this," she informed him.

"I don't see us stopping," he joked. She smiled, and took his erection into her hands, feeling him. She shifted up, and slid onto him. He groaned from the early morning contact. "God, Mer," he moaned. They didn't hold back, moving quickly, frantically focused on reaching the high. As soon as they did, they both knew they had to get up and get ready.

They showered and grabbed a bowl of cereal, eating faster than usual, but they had already wasted any extra time they had in bed. They were about to walk out of the house when Derek turned around, "This is for real, right?"

"What?" she looked confused.

"Us. We are for real. This is really happening." It was a statement, but more of a question.

"This is really happening."

He pulled her into him for a hug. He softly kissed the top of her head. It was almost hard for him to believe that this was reality, and not a dream.

"We better get going," she motioned towards the car. It didn't take long for them to reach the hospital, and as soon as they reached the surgical floor, Christina looked at them, knowing that something was up.

"Meredith," she grabbed her arm, and pulled her aside. "What are you doing?"

"Going to see Nancy. I got a page, she's awake," Meredith confirmed.

"No, what are you doing with McDreamy? You look all atwitter with love again. You're walking in sync and he is looking at you like…like he's sleeping with you." It was quiet for a second as she searched her friend's eyes for a reason to believe she was wrong, but there was none. "You're sleeping with him."

"I'm sleeping with him."

"And Trevor?"

"I'm going to talk to him."

"I can't believe this, Mer. We came here to get away from our problems, and you're letting him ruin that."

Meredith knew that her friend was right, but it was different this time. It was something she couldn't explain. "I know, but I just…I can't stay away from him."

Christina gave up, "Alright," she said defeated. "Go to your McDreamy." It put a small smile on Meredith's face.

She walked back over to where Derek was standing, waiting for her, "Alright, let's go."

"What was that about?"

"Christina intervention."

"Ah, and what's the conclusion?"

"She knows. Apparently I look too happy," she laughed. To anyone that knew her they knew it was out of the norm for her to look 'too happy'. "I think she's ok with it."

"Well I'm glad she's ok with it."

She felt a sense of relief. She didn't want to have to keep this from her best friend, "Me too."

They walked slowly to Nancy's room. They both were in no rush, taking each other's presence in. It was something that they both wanted to last. The feeling was new, but familiar.

They entered Nancy's room, and even they could sense the happiness radiating from the two of them. Carolyn looked at Derek and gave him an approving smile.

"How are you feeling?" Meredith asked Nancy.

"My head hurts, but I think that's to expect."

"It is," Derek interjected. He went over and personally checked up on Nancy's stats. "You look like you're doing well, though. Everything looks great."

Meredith sat back and watched him take charge. He really was her knight and shining whatever.

"When can I get out of here?" Nancy asked.

"Not for a few more days," Meredith told her. "We are going to need to monitor you for the next couple of days, but it shouldn't be too long."

"Good. I've never been a fan of hospital food," Nancy joked.

"Nobody is," Derek laughed. He turned to his mom, "You can go home, get some rest. I'll stay here with her for the day until Kathleen gets here tonight."

His mom nodded, "Alright." She walked over to her daughter and kissed her. "I'll be back tonight."

Nancy quickly fell back asleep. "You don't have to stay," Derek told Meredith.

"It's fine. I want to stay. I start work in an hour anyways."

He nodded and sat down on the couch that was in the room. Meredith sat down next to him, and leaned against his shoulder. They turned on the tv and both drifted asleep. They both were beyond happy that they were there, together. It was something they wouldn't ever again take for granted.


	6. Take It Slow

_She was wrapped up in her head. All she could do was think about the last year and how her life had gone so completely crazy. She needed a quick break from life, from reality. She needed to come clean, start fresh._

_She picked up another piece of clothing and set it down, nice and neat, in her suitcase. She knew, deep down, that what she was doing was going to help her move on. She knew that it was her only way out._

_A love like this, shouldn't be some complicated. Her life was spinning out of control, and she needed to stop it before she crashed head on. She was jaded, and she needed out. _

_She remembered how he said he wanted out. He was going to stay with his wife, and she had no choice but to go along with his decision, and it broke her. Everyday, seeing him was like a slap in the face. She wasn't going to deal with it anymore._

_She was sick of everything, of him, of herself. Everything's changing now. She wasn't all right, and she was done faking it. She'd be fine, if she could just get over this. It takes time to realize you're life is just what you make of it, and she knew that now._

_She was afraid to be alone, but she was better on her own, for now. She closed her suitcase and sat down on her bed. She looked around at her room: her bed, her empty closet and drawers. Nothing seemed okay, but it would soon._

_Her door opened slowly, "You ready to go?"_

_She looked around again, grabbing her things, "Yeah."_

_Her eyes kept forward, there was no looking back._

Meredith shuddered awake, which woke Derek up suddenly. Meredith grabbed the couch and took a deep breathe.

Derek looked at her with worry in his eyes, "Mer? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, fine, just," her hands were shaking, and her voice was shaky at first, "Nightmare. I'm fine."

There it was. _I'm fine._ It was classical Meredith Grey to not be fine whenever those words escaped her mouth. "You're fine," he gave her an unimpressed look.

"Really, I'm okay," she smiled at him. "I just, keep dreaming of the night I left. But you're here. So it'll be all right in the end, right?"

He looked down at her. He was worried that she would keep dreaming of something that was so awful, but there was nothing he could do now but be there for her. He rested a hand on her cheek, "Believe me when I say that I'm going to be here. Forever. This is forever."

She put her head back on his chest, where she had been so comfortably resting before. She knew that she had to get up and get ready for rounds in a few short minutes, but she was going to soak up any time she had there with him.

"I have to go."

"Mmm," Derek hugged her tight to him, not wanted to let her go, but he unwillingly did. "I love you, Meredith," he said as she was walking always.

She smiled at him before she left the room, "I know." He smiled, too, and watched her leave.


End file.
